This invention relates to improved supported metal catalysts, and to a method of making same. The invention is more particularly directed to a supported metal catalyst in which another metal is alloyed with the metal catalyst so that the catalyst has a higher activity at a given temperature then has been possible previously.
Typically, a supported catalyst involves a transition metal supported on an oxide support. The catalyst is frequently a noble metal such as platinum, palladium, or iridium, and the support can be, e.g. alumina (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3), titania (TiO.sub.2) a composite support (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -TiO.sub.2) or another oxide such as silica or tungsten oxide. Composite binary oxides are often employed as supports because they can dispense an intrinsically low surface area carrier on a high surface area support in which the number, strength, and acidity of active sites can be controlled. These binary oxides also strongly influence the catalytic properties of the supported metals.